Analysis of electrical power form the wind farm sitting on the Nile River of Aswan, Egypt

Establishment of the wind farms is very large and widely distributed throughout the world as well as in Egypt. Aswan City along the Nile River possesses a huge potential of wind energy. For this purpose, hourly wind data, which were observed between the years 1995 and 2004 at Aswan meteorological station were used. A statistical analysis was carried out from which the annual wind speed was found to be generally high 6.9-7.5 m/s during the medium hub heights 50-70 m and most of the time (79%) the wind speed is in the range 5.3-6.1 m/s over the year at 10 m height. The wind speed distribution were represented by the Weibull distribution. Where the wind speed is sufficient during the whole year for high power generation. New technical analysis for the monthly wind energy available and the monthly energy pattern factor (E.P.F.) for the station was made. Moreover, calculations show that the annual mean energy density available was 200 kWh/m(2) at 70 m height in Aswan region, that is very high potential and suitable for large electricity generation. Furthermore, the monthly plant load factor (PLF) has been determined. Locally and technologically suitable wind turbine for this station must have rated power greater than 1 MW at 100 m height above the ground level. The aim of this research, was to study the possibility of construction a wind farm extending up to a capacity of 45 MW. Where 30 wind turbines model (Fuhrlander FLMD 77) with a capacity of 1.5 MW were considered at Aswan station. After usage the well known WASP software, the energy output 152 GWh/year can be generated from 45 MW wind farm in this site. Then additionally, the expected electricity generation cost was 2(sic) cent/kWh. This specific price is economically valuable according to the national tariff system. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.